More than a month after the murder of Thakurganj resident Nasir, Itaunja police arrested his wife Santosh, father-in-law Roshanlal and the latter’s minor son on Monday. The police also recovered the bicycle used to ferry the body and the cell phones of the accused.
It was through the
trio’s call records that the police got a clue to their complicity in the case. Marital discord and a fight between Nasir and his wife’s family is believed to be have led to his murder.

Nasir’s body was found in Pandit Purwa village on May 16 and was identified with the help of his driving licence. At that time, Santosh had blamed her maternal uncle Vijay Kumar and his son Babloo, a resident of Sitapur district, for killing her husband. But when police investigated the matter, Santosh’s statement did not match with the cell phone records. She had said Nasir spoke to her till the afternoon of May 15, whereas the post mortem report established that he was killed on May 14. Also, the cell phone locations of Roshanlal showed he was present at the place where the body was found, on May 15-16.

Roshanlal’s stepdaughter Santosh had reportedly married Nasir against the wishes of her family and had snapped all ties with them. But this year, Santosh visited her mother on Holi and the family was united. However, her relations with Nasir became strained.

On May 10, Santosh reportedly visited her stepfather again and told him she was upset with Nasir. Roshanlal threatened Nasir and told him never to return to his house. But on May 14 Nasir visited Roshanlal’s house and quarrelled with Santosh. Angry over the fight, Roshanlal, with the help of Santosh and his minor son killed Nasir in his house and disposed off the body next day.

In a statement given to police, Roshanlal said he tied up the dead body in a cloth, put it inside a sack and transported it to an isolated location in village Pandit Purwa on a bicycle, while his son drove the two-wheeler owned by Nasir.